Hauling Motorcycles | GTAMotorcycle.com

Hauling Motorcycles

bigpoppa

bigpoppa

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Long story short, im looking at buying a truck that I will likely be using (for among other things) to haul motorcycles around, for personal use...taking to advanced riding schools/track days...I will also be using it for my wife's small business..
My question is does it have to be one of the long beds(8') or can any of the pick up trucks be fine for this?

I am primarily interested in naked/adv for my next bike


Thanks!
 
Forgot to mention it'll need to have the small seats in the back, cant be a 2, but those are common enough these days
 
I have hauled dirt bikes and supersports in a Chevy S10 extended cab in the past, and now use a Tacoma extended cab. It will easily haul my 1100 Ducati multistrada and one dirt bike, or both dirt bikes. Even with the little 2.7l 4 cylinder i rock.


My grandkids love riding in the back!
 
Wingboy said:
I have hauled dirt bikes and supersports in a Chevy S10 extended cab in the past, and now use a Tacoma extended cab. It will easily haul my 1100 Ducati multistrada and one dirt bike, or both dirt bikes. Even with the little 2.7l 4 cylinder i rock.


My grandkids love riding in the back!
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Dont know much about trucks , but I take it an extended cab will mean a smaller bed? what size length wise?
 
bigpoppa said:
Dont know much about trucks , but I take it an extended cab will mean a smaller bed? what size length wise?
Click to expand...


People order what they want... I have a F150 Crew cab, or "super crew cab"... Whatever Ford calls it, with a 6.5' bed, but You can get the same truck with the full 8' bed or the itty bitty 5' bed.
All depends on your wants/neeeds and the $$ you want to say "goodbye" to
 
Hack said:
People order what they want... I have a F150 Crew cab, or "super crew cab"... Whatever Ford calls it, with a 6.5' bed, but You can get the same truck with the full 8' bed or the itty bitty 5' bed.
All depends on your wants/neeeds and the $$ you want to say "goodbye" to
Click to expand...

Can the smaller ones haul bikes? 6.5' or 5'?
My understanding is on the smaller ones, you'll end up with the rear wheel on the tailgate, but as long as thats properly secured, should be alright yeah?
 
bigpoppa said:
Can the smaller ones haul bikes? 6.5' or 5'?
My understanding is on the smaller ones, you'll end up with the rear wheel on the tailgate, but as long as thats properly secured, should be alright yeah?
Click to expand...

'Guess it'll depend on the wheelbase of the bike(s) you plan to haul...
'Tailgate can support the weight if that's what you're worried about.
Personally I prefer to use a trailer if I must move a bike... You can get a purpose built bike trailer from U-Haul for about $20/day.
I wouldn't want to try to get a heavy bike up into the bed of a pickup.. I'm old and too delicate for such an effort.
With the trailer... Just ride/push the bike up the shallow ramp and you're off

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I wouldnt want a big adv bike with half the weight on the tailgate. IMO, that's just asking for problems. I would get at least 6.5' box.
 
Go get a tape measure the actual bike that you want to haul. Go measure the actual clear space between the front of the bed and the inside of the tailgate. The "6.5" and "8" foot boxes are nominal dimensions, they're not exact.

If the bike is *somewhat* longer than the box length, you can still get it in diagonally.

The main headache with hauling motorcycles with modern pickup trucks isn't the box length ... it's the height. Getting a heavy bike in and out of such a high box can be ... exciting. You might end up with a trailer just because of that. Or lowering the suspension (all the modern pickups have aftermarket lowering kits available).

My race bike hauler is a front wheel drive van with lowered suspension ...
 
Wife and I were also considering a minivan...with a hitch it would probably be doable to haul motorcycles around too I suppose
 
My ranger is 6.5. Most average bikes fit. Smaller ones on a diagonal to shut gate as mentioned. Even a 2001 ZZR250 is just to long straight in. Did load myself. The DL650 in the 7.8 foot trailer. Just so you no once you buy a pickup everyone needs a favour. More so if you have a nice trailer to.

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This thread is perfect because I am also looking to buy a small tacoma to replace my mazda. Always wanted a small pick up truck to haul my bike around and do other adventure stuff. If only their gas mileage was slightly better!
 
I just picked up a Tacoma long bed: 6'1" bed.

Since we were towing stuff, we needed to haul a bike with the tailgate up.

F650GS length is listed at 89.7"
We measured the truck bed diagonally before we bought it: 90" exactly.

Thankfully BMW is conservative with their measurements, measuring from the license plate frame instead of just the wheels, because we had about 3" of space when the bike was in the bed diagonally.

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I have an F150 4dr 5Ft box, with the gate down I can fit almost any bike, but I dont like driving with the gate down. it will take the weight no problem, thats just me.
But as Brian noted, its a LONG way up into a 4wd F150. I have a 4x8 trailer which is my preference for everything.
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